


i once was a man with dignity and grace

by orphan_account



Series: slowly [2]
Category: Formula E RPF, Motorsport RPF
Genre: Boys In Love, Cuddling, Feelings, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 12:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20291473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The first of many.-Jean-Eric spends some time with Andre in Gordes.





	i once was a man with dignity and grace

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is! Part two! I was really excited to finish this and put it out for you all. There's probably a bit of American slang in this, so if something doesn't make sense please let me know! And, as always, please leave a comment or at least a kudos. It really really means a lot!

_[23:24] Text from: Andre_

_Hey do you want to spend some time at the house in gordes during the break_

Andre called Jean-Eric more than he texted, which may have had something to do with how horrible Jean-Eric was at texting (“Spell check is available in every language, Jean-Eric” “Well, sure, but I don’t need it” “No you definitely do”), but Jean-Eric thought there was more to it than that. Maybe it was just because Andre thought calling was easier than texting, but the romantic part of Jean-Eric (that hadn’t been starved out of him yet) liked to believe maybe, just maybe, Andre liked the sound of his voice.

_[23:27] Text from: Andre_

_Max misses you_

Jean-Eric used the corner of his towel to wipe away the water droplets that had fallen from his shoulders onto the screen of his phone, trying to read the small print as quickly as possible.

_[23: 31] Text from: Andre_

_I do too_

Jean-Eric grabbed another towel to scrub down his hair, groaning to himself. Getting Andre to talk about his feelings was like pulling teeth, so him coming to Jean-Eric on his own and extending an invite to his home was a major thing.

_[23:37] Text from: Andre_

_Sorry if that was overstepping. just an idea. no pressure. let me know_

Even though it was, officially, still fairly early in their relationship, Jean-Eric felt as if they had been dating for years. He could talk to Andre with an ease he had never found in anyone else. But Andre still seemed hesitant in their newfound status. When they were together, he was relaxed and comfortable. But when they were apart, it was easy to read between the lines and find Andre’s nervousness.

_ [23:42] Text to: Andre_

_sry was in the shower i woudl love that just tell me when n where_

Tonight was no different. It was easy to see how nervous Andre was by the lack of proper grammar and punctuation. Andre claimed there was no reason he did it sometimes, just mistakes, but Jean-Eric knew that it was his way of hiding behind a mask of calm, cool, and collected. He knew how Andre thought, and that he would instantly assume the worst when Jean-Eric didn’t answer immediately. Jean-Eric finished drying off, checking his phone every few seconds in hopes of a reply.

Just as he was about to give up and call Andre, the face of his phone flashed to life, asking him if he wanted to answer a call from _Andre_.

“Hey, I was just about to call you.” Jean-Eric answered, putting the call on speaker and tossing the phone towards his bed.

“Oh, really? Couldn’t deal with your own terrible texting habits?” Andre’s voice was teasing, and Jean-Eric smiled to his empty room.

“Ha, ha, very funny. But yes, I would love to spend some time with you in Gordes.” He pulled a pair of sweatpants from his suitcase, ruffling through his hair with another towel.

“When are you done with testing?” Andre asked, sounding tired now that he wasn’t teasing Jean-Eric.

“We get done in two days and then I’m all yours.” Jean-Eric wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in Andre’s arms, able to gently kiss his worries away. Porsche wasn’t starting to test for another few weeks, which meant they could spend a good chunk of time together.

“Want me to pick you up? I could drive down.”

“Tell you what, you could pick me up from my apartment in the morning. I’ve already got a red-eye out, into Paris, and I need to pick up a few things anyway. Besides, the weather’s been real shitty lately and I’m not gonna make you drive across Spain in storms.” Jean-Eric dropped onto the hotel bed, grabbing his phone before it could bounce onto the floor.

“Okay. Miss you.” Andre sighed into the phone, and Jean-Eric frowned.

“I miss you too, Andre. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah… I just… Yeah, everything’s fine. I’ll see you in a couple days. Oh, you’re in charge of snacks for the car trip. Get chocolate. Don’t let it melt this time.” Andre was back to teasing, and Jean-Eric chuckled.

“Okay, dear. Get some sleep. You sound exhausted. I’ll see you soon.”

-

“What is _that_?” Andre asked as Jean-Eric climbed into the car a few days later.

“It’s a cooler! So your precious chocolate doesn’t melt!” Jean-Eric grinned, throwing the general bulk of his things into the back seat. He leaned across the center console to give Andre a kiss. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Andre sounded a bit breathless after they parted, and Jean-Eric smirked. Andre rolled his eyes at Jean-Eric’s confidence. “Close the door, you big flirt.”

“Oh, right.” Jean-Eric shut the passenger door and settled into his seat, already reaching to fiddle with the radio. Andre slapped his hand away from the controls as he put the car in gear and began the trip towards Gordes.

Around three hours in, Jean-Eric was getting bored. He had thought a road trip would be fun, but it turned out Andre wouldn’t let him kiss him while he was driving. He had discussed everything he could about testing, exhausted all the social media on his phone, and gotten banned from changing the radio station.

“Now what are you doing?” Andre asked as Jean-Eric leaned into the back seat.

“I’m hungry.” Jean-Eric answered, his voice muffled.

“You ate all the snacks twenty minutes in.” Andre neatly dodged the flailing leg that came dangerously close to his head.

“Not true, I have your chocolate. Here, I’ll feed it to you.” Jean-Eric returned to the upright, proper position in his seat, bag of chocolate treats held triumphantly.

“That’s a terrible idea. You’ll make it sexual.”

“I will NOT.” Jean-Eric gasped, as if outraged at the mere idea of it.

“You definitely will. Let me eat the chocolate, by myself, like a normal human, and you take a nap. You look exhausted. There should be a blanket and pillow back there for you.”

“I am an international racing series champion, I’m used to flights at odd times, I don’t need a nap, thank you very much,” Jean-Eric said as reclined his seat as far as it could go, reaching over to grab the pillow and blanket. Andre laughed, stealing glances to watch Jean-Eric get settled.

“Whatever you say, babe.” Andre chuckled as Jean-Eric sat up, wrapped himself in the blanket, and flopped back down onto the pillow. He was curled on his side, facing Andre, back pressed against the car door. His eyes slipped shut almost immediately, and it didn’t take long for his breathing to even out. A few minutes passed, and Andre sighed.

“I’m well and truly fucked, aren’t I?”

-

“Hey, baby. We’re here. Time to wake up, love.” Andre was crouched next to the passenger side of his car, the door shielding him from the midday sun. Jean-Eric made an unhappy noise and tried to roll away from Andre.

“Jean-Eric, baby, c’mon. You can sleep in the house, and I would even carry you, but I can’t get to you like this. You gotta get up.” Andre smiled, resting a hand on Jean-Eric’s leg.

“Y’d car’y me?” Jean-Eric raised his head, blinking blearily at Andre, trying to ignore the sun shining into his face.

“Yes, of course I’d carry you. Gotta deliver my prince to his castle, right?” Andre patted Jean-Eric’s thigh, trying to get him to move.

“’M your prince?” Jean-Eric pushed himself in the general direction of Andre, with a half-hearted attempt to untangle himself from the blanket.

“Yeah, oh, oof, okay, here we go.” Andre found himself with a sudden armful of Jean-Eric, and he stood, doing his best to rearrange the sleeping man in his arms. Jean-Eric wrapped his legs around Andre’s waist and dropped his head onto the broad shoulder below him.

“’M a koala.” Jean-Eric slurred into Andre’s shoulder, who laughed.

“Are you a prince or a koala?” Andre kicked the car door shut, somehow managing to stay balanced with Jean-Eric wrapped around him.

“Both. Now shh. I’m tired.” He slapped clumsily at Andre’s face as Andre walked towards the house, and Andre obeyed.

By the time they reached the bedroom, Jean-Eric had quieted down, lulled back to sleep by the rhythmic movement of Andre’s steps. With one hand, Andre threw the blankets back, the other hand barely keeping hold of Jean-Eric. Andre more or less dropped him onto the bed, causing Jean-Eric to groan back awake.

“Thanks.” He muttered, instantly burrowing into the pillow.

“I carried you from the car, don’t get snippy with me.” Andre grinned down at him. “I’m old, remember? My back can’t handle this kind of stuff.”

“Sh’up and cuddle me instead. Sucks sleeping without you.” Jean-Eric grabbed at Andre’s arm, and Andre felt his heart squeeze a bit. Jean-Eric was so blindly trusting. It was so easy for him to say what he felt. He hadn’t let his past make him bitter. Andre ached to be like him.

But now wasn’t the time for emotional regret. That was scheduled in between 11pm-3am. So Andre climbed in behind Jean-Eric and opened his arms, jealous of the way Jean-Eric gravitated into his arms.

-

Andre woke to early evening sun and an empty bed. For a moment, he didn’t know why that hurt. He was used to waking up in an empty bed. Then he rolled over and remembered that Jean-Eric had been there. They couldn’t have napped for longer than three hours, but where Jean-Eric had laid was warm and the pillow smelled of him.

Andre sighed into the humid air. He debated staying in bed forever, never having to face anything else unknown ever again, but a bark from Max reminded him that it was probably time for at least some semblance of food. Before he could get up, though, a French curse echoed through the house from the direction of the pool, followed by a loud splash and more barking from Max.

Deciding to go investigate, Andre climbed out of bed, stretching as he headed downstairs. Max ran in through the open patio doors, pausing when he saw Andre.

“No, don’t you do it- no, Max, no!” Andre yelled, reaching out, as if he could stop the dog from shaking all the water off his fur. He groaned. “Aw, man.”

“Ah, sorry. It’s my fault, I threw his ball in.” Jean-Eric appeared in the doorway, dripping wet from the pool.

“No, no, don’t worry about it. It’ll dry, it’s just a pain to be covered in wet dog water.” Andre grinned, stepping to meet Jean-Eric to catch him in a kiss.

“Mm. Still sorry, though. Have a nice nap?” Jean-Eric asked after they parted, smiling up at Andre as he wrapped a towel around his waist.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that? You’re the one that had a red eye flight and then convinced me to pick you up at a very early hour. But yes, I slept very well.” Andre smiled, pecking Jean-Eric’s lips once more before turning towards the kitchen.

“Ah, yes, well. You know how it is.” Jean-Eric trailed after him, taking in Andre’s sleep rumpled appearance. The sleeve of his v-neck was folded up, too much so to be stylish. There was a crease running along his neck from the fabric of the pillow, and his hair was sticking every which way. At some point, Andre had changed into sweats, rather than jeans, and they sat low on his hips.

“Jean-Eric? Hey, you okay?” Andre had turned and was now trying to get Jean-Eric’s attention, and Jean-Eric blinked back to reality.

“Oh, sorry, spaced out there.”

“Yeah, staring at my ass? It’s okay, I get that a lot.” Andre smirked at Jean-Eric, wiggling the aforementioned ass a bit. Jean-Eric laughed, walking over to drape himself over Andre’s back, wrapping his arms around Andre’s stomach.

“What do you want for dinner? I can make us something, or we can order out. Whichever you like. Also, you’re getting me all wet,” Andre turned, wrapping Jean-Eric in his arms.

“I would love to taste a true Andre Lotterer dinner, if you don’t mind. I’ll shower real quick and be down.” Jean-Eric looked up at him from where his head rested on Andre’s chest.

“Whatever my koala wants.” Andre leaned down for a kiss, smiling.

“You should never listen to what half-asleep Jean-Eric says. He’s a fool.” Jean-Eric mumbled against Andre’s lips, making his smile grow.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Now, go shower. I’ll get started on dinner.” Andre patted Jean-Eric’s hip and pulled reluctantly away.

-

They ate dinner on the back patio, not bothering with glasses for the wine. Instead of sitting across from each other, Jean-Eric pulled his chair around to sit next to Andre so they could watch the sunset together. The evening had brought cooler air, and Jean-Eric had done his best to huddle closer to Andre, suddenly chilly.

“I can go get you a sweater if you want.” Andre said, wrapping an arm around Jean-Eric’s shoulders.

“No, it’s okay. You’re enough. This is really nice, being here. Thank you for inviting me.”

“Aw, baby, I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Andre said, smiling at the peaceful expression on Jean-Eric’s face. They fell quiet, only hearing Max’s panting and the distant sounds of the nearby city.

“I think I love you.” Andre surprised them both with his words, and his heart all but stopped. Jean-Eric could feel him tense up, could feel how Andre wanted to pull his arm away.

“I love you too, Andre. It’s okay, don’t worry. I love you too.” Jean-Eric sat up a bit, gently turning Andre’s face towards himself. He could see the panic in Andre’s eyes. “You haven’t messed anything up. It’s okay.”

“Are you sure? It’s not… Not too soon, too quick?” Andre breathed out, searching Jean-Eric’s face for signs of anger.

“Andre, I feel like I’ve known you forever. You know those stories, about people that are destined to find each other? I feel like that’s us. I feel like we were always supposed to be together, and the road to get here might have been painful and messy, but we’re here. I wouldn’t change anything in the past because it’s led me to you. So, no, it’s not too soon. Thank you for telling me.” Jean-Eric leaned in to kiss Andre ever so softly. Andre turned the words over in his mind, trying to understand how he got so lucky.

“That’s sappy as fuck.” Andre choked out, his watery eyes spilling over into tears. All the pain, all the turmoil, both before and with Jean-Eric, was suddenly so, so worth it.

“Love usually is.” Jean-Eric smiled, brushing Andre’s tears away with his thumbs. Andre sniffed, trying to pull himself back together as Jean-Eric kissed him again. “I am getting cold, though, can we go in?”

Andre laughed softly. “Of course.”

The two dumped their dishes in the sink, a problem for tomorrow, and headed up to bed. Jean-Eric didn’t even bother opening his own suitcase: he pulled a pair of Andre’s sweats from the dresser and wiggled under the covers, waiting for Andre to join him.

“Mmm. I love you.” Jean-Eric mumbled as Andre slid in behind him, collecting Jean-Eric in his arms. “It’s so nice to say that.”

“I love you too. I’m sorry it took me so long to say it.” Andre’s voice rumbled in his chest, and Jean-Eric sighed happily.

“It’s okay. It was all worth it.”

Max nosed the door open and leapt onto the bed, curling up by their feet. A slight breeze from the open window ruffled the gauzy curtains, and Jean-Eric knew he was where he was meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I do have an idea for a part three, so look for that... eventually. College (uni) starts next week for me (y i k e s), so my writing will most likely slow way down. But anyway, I'm @workinghard-dreamingbig on tumblr! Feel free to talk about ideas with me I would love to write more about these lovely boys. Let me know what you thought! <3


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